Remembering
by Xanthia Oliphant
Summary: Leon's thoughts about Claire after a recent mission. Oneshot. Reviews?


Leon plopped down on his bed after a long day of filing reports from his latest mission. It wasn't what he expected; there had been an outbreak that he needed to contain. It was originally supposed to be only a week, but had extended to three. Turns out the outbreak had reached a smaller town near the original sight. Regardless, Leon was just happy to be back in his apartment, _safe_. He closed his eyes and fought to rid his mind of what he had gone through. However, they stayed stuck in his mind forcing him to relive it.

_The blonde agent walked with his gun poised down the deserted hallway not taking his eyes off the smaller girl at the end of it. When he finally reached her, he put his gun in its holster and bent down beside her. She didn't make any visible movement and her stringy hair fell in front of her face blocking her face from his view. He lightly tapper her shoulder._

"_Are you ok?" He whispered, feeling stupid. Obviously she wasn't ok. But he meant it as in was she still alive. The girl slowly lifted her face, the hair falling back as she did so. From what he could see her skin was a ghoulish gray and a red mark ran down her face. She slowly turned and met his eyes with a sightless gaze. A gaze he knew all too well. _No…_ He thought before springing at his feet just as she lunged at him. She desperately grabbed at him wanting to bite him. He couldn't bring himself to fight her, but he knew what he had to do. Closing his eyes, he grabbed her neck and swiftly twisted her it killing her instantly. He laid her down gently, his heart giving a lurch and he felt very guilty. These monsters had killed her. This girl had a life before this, she had a family, friends she had a _home_. But these people ruined that all, shattered every hope that was alive in the young being. He felt sick to his stomach at the thought that many had lost their lives to bio-terrorism. He never understood why every person he had seen die always felt like a blow to the stomach. He should've been able to move on quickly and get over it, but even Luis' death was fresh in his mind. He stood up from the ground and gave the girl one last parting look. "They'll pay, don't you worry."_

He tried to rid his thoughts of that but soon they wandered to an even more sensitive subject; Claire. He hadn't seen her in years, not since Harvardville. He realized he even felt guilty because he never kept his promise of seeing her again. He simply went back to his normal routine and tried to forget about her. It seemed to work for a few months but every now and then her face would find its way into his mind and a wave of nostalgia would wash through him. After Rockfort island and before Spain they had talked so much. They kept in touch no matter what but things seemed to take a turn for the worse when he was assigned to find Ashley Graham, afterwards he went into a deep state of depression and barely made it through his days on medication and coffee. He just didn't care anymore; he'd even considered quitting his job with the secret service but knew there was no getting out of it. _I didn't even want this job._ He wished he could see her again, only this time he wanted it to be normal where they didn't have to worry about zombies trying to kill them or trying to protect anyone. They could just sit and talk about normal things like normal people. Ever since Raccoon City he couldn't deny the romantic feelings he often had about Claire and how much he wanted to make them a reality, but at that time it just seemed out of his grasp. It still does now. He wanted so badly to just hear her voice and listen to her witty comments and retorts about anything and everything, even if it was about him. Anything just to know that she was real and not some cruel joke his mind played on him. In everything, she seemed like the light at the end of the tunnel, seemingly appearing like an angel from the heavens. He missed her, no doubt about that. It was obvious to anyone who knew Claire and him. He regretted ever losing touch with her and felt bad for ever ignoring her.

He'd give anything to see her eyes… Her eyes were a brilliant blue, giant orbs of crystal clear radiance that he could lose himself in, that he could throw everything going on at that moment to the recesses of his mind and just muse her beauty. They gave away so much, yet so little. It took a certain type of expertise to recognize the subtle signs of sadness and the little sparkle of affection. To Leon, he could read her like an open book he could see things through her eyes that people would pass off as nonchalance. But he knew her well enough to really see the truth. He knew the little things he could do to show that he cared, like a gentle squeeze to the shoulder and the light brush of his fingers on the back of her hand. Her eyes weren't the only thing he noticed, of course. He often found himself admiring her body, he couldn't lie about that. Claire had to be one of the most beautiful women he had ever laid eyes on. Aside from her eyes, she had soft curves where God intended them to be, she wasn't a stick and she wasn't hefty. She had a figure girls would kill for, almost literally. Her skin was a delicious creamy white that beckoned to be touched, not by anyone else but _him. _Or that's what he wanted at least. Of course, she wasn't flawless, he always noticed the little scar she had just above her left eyebrow that she had later explained to be the result of play fighting with Chris when they were younger, or the way one side or her lips seemed shorter than the other, or the way the front bottom tooth stood slightly crooked. The flaws made her perfect. Perfectly _imperfect._

Leon snapped out of his daze when a knock sounded at his door. Groaning, he got up from the comfort of his bed and opened the door. His landlord stood in front him flipping through a pile of mail.

"Here ya go, Kennedy, this is for you." He said handing Leon a small white envelope. Leon took it and looked at it curiously.

"Thanks." He gave a forced smile.

"Have a good day, Leon." He smiled before walking away. Leon opened the envelope, not bothering to read the address, and pulled out the piece of paper within. Instantly a feeling of an unknown relief washed over him, giving him a warm fuzzy feeling he had missed.

_Leon, _

_I finally found you! You have no idea how long I've tried reaching you, but I guess all it took was a run-in with Sherry on my vacation… I have so much to tell you! I would've called but I never have any time. I'm actually writing this on my lunch break. Besides, I'd rather say all I need to say in person. So, from what Sherry's told me, I hear you live in D.C.? Not surprising considering your career. I'm going to be down there for a conference for TerraSave in a few days. Maybe we could meet? You don't have to answer back just meet me at Jack's Café, it's where I went the last time I was here. It's a great place, Leon. I'll know if you agree to see me there if you're there by 12 p.m. on the 1__st__. I really hope you'll go, I really need to talk to you about what happened after Harvardville… _

_-Claire Redfield_


End file.
